MODELING OF A MICRO-STREAMER INITIATION AND DEVELOPMENT OF ARF EXCIMER-LASER DISCHARGES

The dynamics of a constricted filamentary or 'micro-streamer' discharg e in a discharge-excited ArF excimer laser has been examined using a t wo-dimensional fluid model. The entire process on a micro-streamer, fr om its initiation and development to extinction, is shown. In the pres ent model, a micro-streamer is triggered at protrusions which always e xist on cathode surfaces, and develops in the direction of the anode a ssisted by the high field induced by space charge. A rise in the gas t emperature in the micro-streamer in the vicinity of a cathode is seen, and which is found to play an important role in its development. The effect of preionisation electron density n(e0) on the streamer develop ment is also examined, and the streamer is found to extend significant ly when n(e0) becomes low. The results are explained in connection wit h experimental observations.